Man, time flies.
Believe it or not, on this day back in 1989, Nintendo first released the GameBoy to the world. That means that right now, the iconic, revolutionary handheld is officially twenty-five years old.
The system has sold a whopping 118.69 million units (including GameBoy Pocket and GameBoy Color, both of which came later) and a ridiculous 501.11 million piece of software. That's over half a billion games sold for GameBoy units in the past quarter-century. If you recall, the original GameBoy came with a copy of Tetris and that game was revolutionary in and of itself.
So, now's the time to reflect with fondness: Your first GameBoy, the first batch of games you had, which ones you loved the most, how many times your parents had to take it away because you were ignoring sunlight, etc. I still remember that I had Tetris (of course), Super Mario Bros. , Super Mario 2 , Double Dragon II , Metroid II: Return of Samus , Tecmo Bowl , Tiny Toon Adventures and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan .
My first 2 games for it were Mario bros and that Castlevania adventure. Such good times, it was my first gaming system that was only mine and not my brother's too.
Never had a Gameboy. It was all about the Amiga those years. Great machine. 🙂
It was Mario and Tetris for me (and i had to share with my sister). Later, I thought I was cool and got an atari Lynx and only had Paperboy and Slimeworld. I learned the "Content is King" lesson very early.
Last edited by broox9 on 4/21/2014 4:03:26 PM
I got a Lynx too, it had a handful of sweet games, just nothing anybody knew about.
I remember reading an article on NGM in the 90's that said that Sony felt like they should've come up with the idea for the Game Boy first.
I mean Sony was still well known for their Walkman's and having a portable gaming system was like something that they would do. But Nintendo beat them to the punch. Even the brand name "Game Boy" seems to be loosely based on Sony's "Walk Man" brand.
It is said that one engineer at Sony's consumer portable division was so upset of not coming with the idea first, that he quit.
Anyway, I used to play a lot of Tetris on a GB in school.
Pokemon, Donkey Kong, and Tetris come to my mind when I look back at my time with the Gameboy.
Oddly enough, my first gameboy game was an Adams Family game… meh. lol
I also enjoyed the mega mans, and Donkey Kong… The one where you play as Mario, chasing DK through like a dozen worlds.
I was so hooked on Tetris that it wasn't funny. The idea that a game could be mental was a blast. By the time I played Pokemon I was dumbfounded at how good this system could be. Totally replaced my portable Walkman as my entertainment system of choice.
I still have my original Gameboy and all the games I had. Probably the best memory is the high score battle me and my dad would have with Tetris. Just trading the Gameboy back and forth till we beat each score!
Link's Awakening! That one is my top five most played games of all time. In fact Wario Land is up there to. Did everything there was to do on those two gems. Currently working my way up though the Zelda series. Can't wait for this one. Just need to find a solid emulator for a gameboy.
"how many times your parents had to take it away because you were ignoring sunlight" I'm pretty sure mine were thankful I started leaving the house more often. At least until it fell in a ditch filled with rainwater. Was in the middle of pokemon red too, never got to finish that game.
well what a 25years it's been pitty i haven't been around for all of it or remeber even half of it but good on you game boy and nintendo
happy gaming =)
ahhhhhh the old gameboy how many math tests it got me out of!
i remember being obsessed with pokemon red and blue, such a shame ninty refuses to bring that franchise back to home consoles.
would be such a nostalgia hit to be able to relive those games in glorious HD on the home screen!
It's crazy to think there are working-age adults with degrees who weren't even alive when this thing came out…..